Hours before epidemic policy Title 42 might terminate and cause more people to cross the border, military and state police have flocked to the city in the last 24 hours and formed a line along the banks of the Rio Grande as a show of force.
A federal law enforcement agent told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Texas National Guard soldiers and military vehicles arrived in El Paso on Monday and were on guard on the south side of downtown by evening. They were joined by Department of Public Safety personnel.
A Fox News report that hasn’t been verified claims that several hundred soldiers have been sent in. Multiple efforts for comment to the Texas Military Department, DPS, and Governor Greg Abbott went unanswered.
Where Border Patrol agents have been mostly removed from standing on patrol, the backup state troops fill in. To transport, handle, and take care of the tens of thousands held each day, agents have been removed from the field.
Over the previous two weeks, groups of more than 1,000 individuals have crossed the border at a time at the location where the backup forces arrived. More than 10,000 illegal aliens who entered El Paso during the previous week were let go onto the streets.
A total of 13,000 noncitizens have been detained by US Border Patrol officials in the past week for breaking the law in El Paso.
New state resources have been sent to West Texas as part of Abbott’s enhanced attempts to improve security along the state’s border with Mexico.
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When border officers are no longer able to swiftly deport certain immigrants back to Mexico, as was permitted under public health law Title 42, numbers may increase. Abbott increased the number of police and military personnel in the troubled area as the biggest number of immigrants in history entered El Paso in recent weeks.
Tuesday, Abbott wrote to President Joe Biden and demanded that he send more government employees to the border. “These towns and the state are ill-prepared to carry out the task given to the federal government, which is to provide housing for the thousands of migrants that enter the nation every day. Many of these refugees run the risk of freezing to death on city streets as dangerous temperatures approach, Abbott said.
Texas and other border states do not have a responsibility to deal with this catastrophe, Abbot continued. Instead, the U.S. Constitution mandates that it is your responsibility, Mr. President, to protect our borders, control immigration to our country, and manage those who seek asylum here.
The mission is comparable to earlier displays of force approved by Abbott, such as the time in September 2021 at Del Rio when dozens of DPS cars formed a “steel wall” in a line.
In Eagle Pass, Texas, Abbott sent state troops while Trump was president. To discourage immigrants from wading across the Rio Grande, more than 100 automobiles were parked along its banks. The action was taken in response to reports of an immigrant caravan approaching the border.
